Reflections

This post aims at providing a guide to the writings of the Carmelite St. John of the Cross. It has been written by Fr. Tadgh Tierney ocd, Assistant Priest at Infant Jesus Parish. It traces the main themes and stages in the development of a dedicated prayer life as envisaged by the saint. Proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 1926 by Pope Pius 1X, John`s writings are unsurpassed in the field of Christian mysticism. In this outline I will follow the text and individual titles of the various works as set out in `The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross `, in the ICS edition, edited and translated by Kieran Kavanaugh ocd and Otilio Rodriguez ocd, Washington. D.C.

Feast of Christ the King.
Christ Our Lord claims allegiance over the hearts of all men and women. The Gospel tells us that he will be the one whom God has chosen to judge the people of all nations. His guiding rule will be as follows: `As long as you did it to one of these, the least of my sisters and brothers, you did it to me`.

St. Raphael Kalinowski was a Polish Carmelite , whose feast occurs next Saturday; he was both beatified and canonized by fellow Pole Pope John Paul 11, who has been proclaimed Blessed by Pope Benedict. He was exiled for ten years to Siberia for taking part in a struggle to free his country from the Russians.

`Be ready` is the oft repeated call of today`s readings. Remember it wasn’t actually raining when Noah began building the ark! To understand the context of today`s gospel story we need to realise that we are coming to the end of Matthew`s gospel and its towards the end of the liturgical year. In the previous chapter Jesus had been speaking about the end of the world and the fall even of the great Temple in Jerusalem.

`I am a great king says the Lord of Hosts and my name is feared throughout the nations.`This is how the word of God opens today in a passage from the prophet Malachi, and as we listen we must be tempted to shake our heads . Is the name of the Lord feared among the nations? It doesn’t appear as if it is.

The theme for today centres on the need for reconciliation between individuals and in the wider community. Jesus outlines a process of conflict management.

On the plane coming back from Sydney on Wednesday I tuned in to the greatest hits of Simon and Garfunkel – `Homeward Bound` , well I was, wasn’t I?, `I am a rock, I am an island` and the old favourite, `Bridge over troubled water`. That song centres on reconciliation, a recurring theme today. It is said that the duo had frequent spats, a characteristic of many artistic groups going back to Gilbert and Sullivan. The song was an effort by Paul Simon to repair the damage caused by one such rift – `Like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down.`

One of the least desirable traits of modern life is an all-pervading atmosphere of aggression – aggression in the home, aggression on the road, aggression in the marketplace – and even conflict in the church.Read more…

The readings and the psalm for this Sunday are carefully chosen to reflect God`s marvelous plan of creation and redemption. And here we are not confined to the human population only but we are meant to take in the whole environment that includes the earth and all that adorns it – animals, birds, plants and vegetation.(You can throw in the sun as well on which all life depends , together with our nearest neighbours in space , the moon, mars, the other planets) After that things get too big for us to notice any impact on ourselves or our environment.

There is something timeless about a crowd.They are just there – no more. In a crowd everyone is average – here we`re not talking about leaders or celebrities. A crowd then helps us understand what it means to form one body. None of us here is famous – speaking for myself at least. We can enjoy the anonymity of a crowd walking down the street or out shopping. A crowd will usually have some focus of unity – they are supporters of a team like the Dockers or they are attending a concert together.